I'm wondering if he didn't do some introspection or if someone didn't sit down and have a serious talk with him about his effort and it's relation to his output. When the guy is in go-mode, he really is a scoring force. But far too often he just stops working hard. You can see it in his face. He's just not tenacious far too often, like he's bored and drowsy. And then he seems apathetic about it. But at more times than we've seen the last few seasons, he seems to look a little hungrier this year. He's really looked strong lately. There's no reason he can't keep it up when Dats and Z are back. He's done it before, but he's gotta play hungry, every game, every shift.

He's a scorer. The pressure is on him to put the biscuit in the basket. He's not a playmaker like Dats or Z where: Oh hey? You couldn't pot my awesome feed? No worries I'll just feed you again.

I think he goes through slumps and the resulting frustration like most scorers not named Ovechkin and Stamkos do. Don't think he doesn't have the hunger.

I'm wondering if he didn't do some introspection or if someone didn't sit down and have a serious talk with him about his effort and it's relation to his output. When the guy is in go-mode, he really is a scoring force. But far too often he just stops working hard. You can see it in his face. He's just not tenacious far too often, like he's bored and drowsy. And then he seems apathetic about it. But at more times than we've seen the last few seasons, he seems to look a little hungrier this year. He's really looked strong lately. There's no reason he can't keep it up when Dats and Z are back. He's done it before, but he's gotta play hungry, every game, every shift.

You know what...when season started, he looked as lazy as all those seasons before. Then he was injured, with the Wings never really saying what it was, just "undisclosed illness" or something...and then he came back and played the hell out of him. Very energetic, focused, even defending. Then he got concussed, and when he came back he again looked that sharp...

...and when he was out with that "undisclosed illness", I read somewhere that rumour was that he suffers/suffered from depression. At that point, I thought "ok, just BS"...but giving it a second thought...he really shows signs of what are typical symptoms of this. Maybe they just finally found the right theraphy and he starts getting over it?

Only way Babs moves upstairs is if he takes over Holland's job as GM and coaches. I don't think that's at all likely to happen. Maybe Babs will want to change roles at some point, but I get the feeling that his priority is coaching right now and for the foreseeable future.

You know what...when season started, he looked as lazy as all those seasons before. Then he was injured, with the Wings never really saying what it was, just "undisclosed illness" or something...and then he came back and played the hell out of him. Very energetic, focused, even defending. Then he got concussed, and when he came back he again looked that sharp...

...and when he was out with that "undisclosed illness", I read somewhere that rumour was that he suffers/suffered from depression. At that point, I thought "ok, just BS"...but giving it a second thought...he really shows signs of what are typical symptoms of this. Maybe they just finally found the right theraphy and he starts getting over it?

That's interesting. I haven't heard that and honestly don't know much about the subject on an academic level to identify symptoms. But who knows?

You know what...when season started, he looked as lazy as all those seasons before. Then he was injured, with the Wings never really saying what it was, just "undisclosed illness" or something...and then he came back and played the hell out of him. Very energetic, focused, even defending. Then he got concussed, and when he came back he again looked that sharp...

...and when he was out with that "undisclosed illness", I read somewhere that rumour was that he suffers/suffered from depression. At that point, I thought "ok, just BS"...but giving it a second thought...he really shows signs of what are typical symptoms of this. Maybe they just finally found the right theraphy and he starts getting over it?

Yes. This. I've actually thought that he might suffer from depression for quite a while now, dating back to a season or two ago. As a neuroscience major and having suffered from fairly severe depression in the past I think that this is actually a legitimate possibility from what I can see. Now I don't have a degree yet or anything, but he definitely shows the symptoms. And medications/therapies for that are a crapshoot at best. Usually takes several attempts to find something effective even for the best psychiatrists. So yeah, this could actually be legit.

Babs moving upstairs??? lol he's got a degree in sports psychology not business. You think he could be GM and Blashill coach and there wouldn't be interference from Bab's side? A coach trying to GM over another coach lol?

Babs moving upstairs??? lol he's got a degree in sports psychology not business. You think he could be GM and Blashill coach and there wouldn't be interference from Bab's side? A coach trying to GM over another coach lol?

And Stevie has no degree at all, which hasn't stopped him from doing a great job. But yeah no way Babs becomes a GM.

"He usually shows up when the game is over and tries to be the hero. Puts his cape on and goes and flies out there." ~ Franzen

Well said. We traded potential for established. We were in dire need of a center, and the trade had to happen. I'm very glad it did. Legwand is a great fit here. If that first line can keep it up until others get healthy, there is no doubt in my mind we make the playoffs. Hell, I still expect the team to finish 3rd in the division. BELIEVE

Hey I wanted legwand before we got him so I'm happy he's here he's already showing he's a better fit than weiss .... Yes I know it's just one game and I don't expect that much production every game ... he's just a good 2 way guy with size and that can actually play ... Fits here

I think you keep rotating unless Jimmy loses multiple starts in a row. You've got to keep Jimmy going because he's going to be the guy come playoff time and it's getting to the point where he's got to start getting his game and head together. He's got to get some consecutive starts in towards the end of the regular season as well. I have this sneaking suspicion/hope that he'll be a different goalie come playoff time, so I've tried not to give it too much thought, but it's going to be interesting to see what happens.

Thinking further ahead, if Howard ends up imploding in the playoffs and Gus has to take over, it'll be very interesting to see how Howard's future in Detroit plays out. It's fairly obvious that Howard's struggles this year have been far more irritating to Babcock than before. Maybe it's because he just signed a long-term contract to become the teams 3rd highest paid player behind Dats and Z and he's following it up with his worst season by a considerable margin; all while getting outplayed by a guy making less than 1/3 of the money Howard does. Maybe he's just growing tired of the inconsistency. Either way, there seems to be a change in tone that would suggest that Babcock does not have Howard's back like he has the last few years. He knows Howard has to be the guy in the playoffs for this team to be successful, but he doesn't think Howard's always the go-to guy for a win this year, and that's where problems start. Babcock gets pretty hard-headed with goalies, and I think coaching them is one of his few weak points.

I know Howard's got the physical skill to be a very good NHL goalie despite some shortcomings here and there, but the real lingering question for me since he was in Grand Rapids was his mental game and more specifically his mental toughness. Too often it sounds like he's trying convince himself of what he's saying when he talks about his game, but his face too often tells an even scarier story. He's always had a way of wearing his frustration and a sort of confused and fearful look on his face when he faces adversity. In his rookie year, he'd play outstanding throughout the regular season for 5-6 games, and then have a royal stinker, and you could see in his face that he was clinging to what little composure he had for dear life at times. And let's not forget, he took a long time to get his game together in Grand Rapids, which made me wonder how he'd fair being rushed into the starting job once he stayed in the NHL. I think he was running on the high of playing great and didn't have the same kind of pressure of coming into the season as the starter, but when he got the playoff nod, his play dropped considerably. Ever since, it's been a relatively smooth ride with some bumpy spots here and there, a rough playoffs and a good playoffs, and another great regular season last year. But last year was the contract year and the Lidstrom transition year. This year, they proved they can still compete without Lidstrom and he's the 3rd highest paid player on the team, and thus far, he's been lousy and he looks like a mess. With Babcock not going easy on him and not giving him nearly as many starts as he's used to, you have to wonder if it's just making things worse.

As said, he has the skill to be a great goalie, but I'm not 100% convinced that he has the mental toughness to be a great goalie, especially for someone like Mike Babcock who tends to quickly revert to the cold "what have you done for me lately" coach when dealing with goalies. If he has a strong playoff run, it'll be huge for him and his career, as it'll no doubt come from dealing with a great deal of mental adversity yielding growth. If he stumbles, I would not be shocked to see him traded sometime in the next year. I really like the guy and hope he turns it on, but as much as I believe he can, part of me also recognizes that he might not have the mental toughness to do it, at least when coupled with having to deal with a coach like Babcock's methods.

Note: I'm not saying Babcock is a bad coach. I think he's a great coach, but nobody's perfect, and I think one of his weaknesses is in dealing with goalies.